The Moon Oracle by Caroline Smith and John Astrop - Review
by Lee A. Bursten

This is a beautiful non-Tarot divination deck by Caroline Smith and John
Astrop, the creators of the Elemental Tarot. The publisher, St. Martinís
Press, has given this product the kind of care and attention they should have
given to their reissue of the Elemental Tarot. A nicely produced 128-page book
is included with the deck. The cards themselves have the same scanned look as
the Elemental reissue, but at a much higher resolution, so that itís really
not noticeable.

As with artist Caroline Smithís other decks (Elemental Tarot, Mystic
Tarot), the most important feature is the art. Sheís an absolutely fabulous
artist, and the artwork for this deck does not disappoint. In fact, her artistry
seems to have developed and evolved since creating the Elemental deck in 1988.
Compared to the Elemental, the Moon Oracle art is more elaborate. More time
seems to have been spent on each card. The colors are more subtle and have a lot
of shading, compared to the flat areas of color on the Elemental. Also, compared
to the Elementalís Egyptian feeling, the present deck has definite Asian
overtones. The use of color seems more sophisticated, as does the whole design,
including the type fonts.

The deck is based on lunar astrology. Itís composed of three sections: Moon
Phases, Moon Goddesses, and Moon Mansions. The 32 Moon Phase cards, roughly
analogous to the Tarot Minor Arcana, were derived by taking the eight phases of
the moon (Crescent, First Quarter, Gibbous, Full, Disseminating, Last Quarter,
Balsamic, and Black) and breaking each one up into the four elements, so that we
have Waxing Fire, Waxing Earth, Waxing Water, et cetera. Each of the eight
phases has been assigned a keyword denoting a stage of development of a plant
(Shoots, Leaves, Buds, Flower, Fruit, Fall, Seeds, and Dormant). Each card is
also assigned an individual keyword, so that the Crescent (Shoots) Fire card is
Impulse; the Crescent (Shoots) Earth card is Investment, et cetera.

The layout of the cards in this section is pleasantly logical. At the top is
a title indicating the phase and element (i.e. Crescent: Waxing Fire Moon). Then
is a smaller bar which bears the number of the card (one to eight for each
element), the keyword assigned to the phase (i.e. Shoots), and the symbol for
the element. Below that, the largest area of the card is taken up by the
illustration, a semi-abstract depiction of the stage of development of the
plant. For example the Balsamic (Seeds) Earth cardshows a fruit
breaking open to reveal the seeds within. Then at the bottom is a bar showing
all eight phases of the moon, with the current phase highlighted. Finally, there is a
bar containing the individual keyword for that card (i.e. Impulse).

The cards in this section are color coded; the title and keyword areas for
the Fire cards are pink; green for the Earth cards, lime for the air cards, and
blue for the water cards. The illustrations for this section are fascinating,
and very unusual for a Tarot-like deck.

Next is the Moon Goddesses section, sort of similar to the Tarot Court cards.
We have 12 goddesses, each one assigned to an astrological sign. Each card has
been given one of four colors to correlate with the season of its sign, so that
there are four White cards, four Red cards, and four Black cards. These colors
are shown as small disks in the title bar at the bottom, to the right of the
title. To the left of the title is the astrological glyph. Although all the
goddesses are, of course, women, there is a fine balance between the masculine
and the feminine, with several cards showing strong or warrior-like goddesses.
For example, Ishtarseems quite masculine, while
Gaia embodies more feminine aspects.

Finally we have 28 Moon Mansion cards, comparable to the Tarot Major Arcana.
These cards are derived by breaking each astrological sign into three decanates.
Visually these cards contain a large picture area, at the bottom of which is a
square containing a large Arabic numeral for the cardís number, and then a
title bar at the bottom which includes two planet glyphs, the card title, and
the astrological degrees showing the starting and ending points of the portion
of the sign represented by that card.

The artwork on these cards is the most original and striking. The authors
have not simply played around with and renamed Tarot concepts, which many
non-Tarot decks do, but have created a new and valid series of concepts and
images which have much intuitive power, such as Volcano, Stone, Wheel, Bridge,
Bouquet, Door, Duel, Rebel, et cetera. The figures in this section are mostly
female but there are some males. Particularly vivid are Volcano, The Fall,
Door, and Duel.

The authors have come up with an interesting way to read the cards, and as
far as I know it is quite original. All the cards in a spread except the first
are chosen in the normal way, that is, from the shuffled deck. However, the
first card is chosen by calculating the phase of the moon at the time of the
reading, and then finding the applicable Moon Phase card and placing that card
in the number one position. Charts are provided at the back of the book to help
you find the current moon phase. I like this idea, because it gives one a
feeling that the spread is more connected to the world around it in that moment.
The book also tells how to use the charts to clarifying timing of cards coming
up in past or future positions.

The book is substantial and well-written compared to the Elemental book
(which was so short that I found it to be rather Zen-like and quite
inscrutable). I particularly liked that the text for the Moon Mansion cards
includes a short paragraph for each card describing the traditional (and quite
predictive) astrological meaning, as well as a more modern interpretation.
Several spreads are included, including an Elemental spread where the three
sections of the deck are shuffled separately, and the Celtic Cross.

Iím not knowledgeable enough about astrology to comment on the astrological
aspects of the deck and book, but John Astrop is a professional astrologer, and
the descriptions in the book certainly seem well-researched.

I appreciated the fact that some men are included in the Moon Mansions cards,
but my feeling is that itís a little simplistic to create a Moon Oracle deck
and identify it with Goddesses and the feminine. After all, doesnít the Moon
figure in menís lives as well? It seems as if the authors had two decks in
mind, a moon deck and a goddess deck, and decided to combine them, or perhaps
they simply wanted to capitalize on the current fashion for Goddess materials.
In any event, although the deck/book is Goddess-oriented, it is not anti-male,
and in fact avoids all political overtones. Men could use this deck without
feeling unwelcome.

In short, itís worth buying for the stunning artwork, and it seems like it
would be an excellent deck to use for readings if one wants to try something
Tarot-like but not Tarot. I recommend it.

The Moon Oracle
By Caroline Smith and John
St. Martinís Press
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010

ISBN 0-312-24172-0

http://www.luna.clara.net/moon/index.htm

Lee A. Bursten is a court reporter in
his real life. He much prefers his unreal life, where he reads about Tarot and
switches favorite decks at an alarming rate. He is very grateful to Michele and
Diane for posting his reviews, and especially to his significant other, Larry
Katz, for his superhuman patience.